batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l8763-l8784
---
record_id: batch.motif.buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg-l8763-l8784
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
passage_locator:
label: BOOK I. / END OF THE STORY ON HOLDING TO THE TRUTH. / END OF THE STORY OF
THE SANDY ROAD. / END OF THE STORY OF CHULLAKA THE TREASURER.; lines 8763-8784
start: '8763'
end: '8784'
translation: Buddhist birth stories; or, Jataka tales, Volume 1
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Ministers mock a foolish valuation that makes Benares and five hundred
horses worth only a measure of rice. The Bodisat recites a stanza exposing the
absurdity. The ashamed king expels the foolish valuer and appoints the Bodisat.
The Teacher identifies the foolish valuer as Udāyin the Simpleton and the wise
valuer as himself in a former birth.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The ministers clap their hands, laugh, and speak scornfully about the valuer's
account.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The ministers say the royal city is valued, by the valuer's account, at just
a measure of rice.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: The Bodisat utters a stanza equating the worth of a measure of rice with all
Benares and its environs and with five hundred horses.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: The king becomes ashamed, drives out the foolish valuer, and appoints the
Bodisat to the office of Valuer.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: The Bodisat later passes away according to his deeds.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: The Teacher concludes the Jātaka by identifying the foolish peasant valuer
as Udāyin the Simpleton and the wise valuer as himself.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: ministers
description: Ministers who laugh at and mock the valuer's account.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: the king
description: The ruler who is ashamed, expels the foolish valuer, and appoints the
Bodisat as Valuer.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: the Bodisat / wise valuer
description: The figure who utters the stanza and is appointed to the office of
Valuer; later identified by the Teacher as himself.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: foolish peasant valuer / Udāyin the Simpleton
description: The valuer mocked for his account, expelled by the king, and identified
as Udāyin the Simpleton.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: the Teacher
description: The concluding narrator who makes the connection and identifies the
past-life figures.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: mocking witnesses
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: They clap, laugh, and speak scornfully about the valuation.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:2
label: ashamed royal judge
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: He reacts with shame, removes the foolish valuer, and appoints the Bodisat.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: role:3
label: wise valuer
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: The passage calls him the wise valuer and shows him correcting the valuation
through a stanza.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: foolish displaced official
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: He is called a foolish peasant valuer and is driven out of office.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:5
label: identity-revealing teacher
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: He concludes the Jātaka by identifying the former figures with present figures.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: measure of rice
literal_form: a measure of rice
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: Benares and its environs
literal_form: All Benares and its environs / the great royal city
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: five hundred horses
literal_form: five hundred horses
associated_figures:
- fig:3
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Ministers mock the valuation
summary: The ministers laugh and say that the great royal city has been valued at
only a measure of rice.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Bodisat states the absurd valuation in verse
summary: The Bodisat recites a stanza comparing the value of the measure of rice
with Benares and five hundred horses.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: King replaces the foolish valuer
summary: The ashamed king expels the foolish valuer and appoints the Bodisat to
the office of Valuer.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Teacher connects the Jātaka identities
summary: The Teacher identifies the foolish valuer as Udāyin the Simpleton and the
wise valuer as himself.
figure_refs:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: wise judgment exposes foolish judgment
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: The foolish valuation is publicly mocked, the Bodisat articulates its absurdity,
and the king replaces the foolish valuer with the wise one.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage presents this as an ethical and didactic episode; no broader
cross-cultural comparison is asserted by the passage.
- id: motif:2
label: office transferred from fool to wise figure
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: After the absurd valuation is exposed, the king drives out the fool and appoints
the Bodisat as Valuer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: medium
cautions: This is a local narrative pattern within the passage rather than a fully
developed independent motif.
comparison_claims: []
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 8763-8769
quote_or_summary: The ministers clap, laugh, and scorn the valuer, saying the great
royal city is worth only a measure of rice by his account.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 8771-8777
quote_or_summary: The Bodisat recites a stanza asking what a measure of rice is
worth, answering with Benares and its environs, and asking what five hundred horses
are worth, answering with the same measure of rice.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 8779-8780
quote_or_summary: The king is ashamed, drives out the fool, and appoints the Bodisat
to the office of Valuer.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 8780-8781
quote_or_summary: In time the Bodisat passes away according to his deeds.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 8783-8784
quote_or_summary: The Teacher finishes the discourse, makes the connection, and
identifies the foolish peasant valuer as Udāyin the Simpleton and the wise valuer
as himself.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/buddhist/project-gutenberg/buddhist-birth-stories-volume-1-rhys-davids.md
rights_note: Public domain source text.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: uncertain
notes: The passage clearly supports the figures, actions, and wisdom motif. No explicit
comparative claim beyond the Jātaka identity connection is made in the supplied
passage.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Taxonomy assignment limited to the provided 'wisdom' motif family; no symbol taxonomy references were assigned because the available symbol list does not include rice, city, or horses.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:buddhist-jataka-birth-stories-rhys-davids-gutenberg__l8763-l8784
passage_sha256=3c97131340e54469e52bc7b4cdc027fec74132c6ded7051ee98382f1c8549366